Outdoor cooking

Food and recipes

Outdoor food choices vary by setting: public campground users may access fresh groceries, while backcountry travelers rely on low-water-content items such as dried meats, dehydrated camping foods, ramen, polenta, and dried potato flakes. Wilderness experts sometimes incorporate wild vegetables, fruit, fish, or game, though camping food is often partially or fully vegetarian. High-fat and high-carbohydrate foods provide energy for hiking, with snacks like trail mix, chocolate, energy bars, and sports drinks being common.

Water treatment using chlorine or iodine disinfectants is important, and drink mixes mask the chemical taste. Many recipes involve home preparation of ingredients for trail cooking; freeze-dried meals and supermarket instant meals (hot cereals, pasta or rice in sauce, instant soup) are popular. Some wilderness experts advocate bulk rationing, where each hiker receives raw ingredients to prepare meals from scratch.

Methods

Most outdoor cooking methods are determined by the foods being cooked. Direct heat, boiling, frying, grilling, and roasting are the most common techniques, requiring only basic tools. The campfire is the oldest cooking method; food may be suspended in flames or placed in direct contact with fuel. Campfire cooking is often done outside wilderness areas, but due to fire risk and legal restrictions, many campers use portable stoves.

Grills over campfires function like backyard charcoal grills; food requires constant attention to avoid catching fire. Hand-held grills (broilers) can warm food, grill burgers or sausages, or make toast. Where open fires are prohibited, lightweight charcoal grills (sometimes considered hibachis) are used for direct grilling.

Specialist equipment

Portable stoves are used where wood is scarce or fire hazards exist. They typically use liquid fuels (petroleum derivatives or alcohol), gaseous fuels (propane, butane), or solid fuels (wood shavings, hexamine). Two-burner models resemble residential gas stoves for front-country use, while backpacking stoves produce a concentrated, less powerful flame and require lightweight cookware (billycans) of aluminum or titanium. Special techniques for trail baking include flipping a lidded pan on heat or using a twiggy fire on the pan lid to mimic a Dutch oven's charcoal.

Reflector ovens sit beside the fire to gather thermal radiation. Solar cookers require no fuel; parabolic designs can exceed 750 degrees Fahrenheit, as with the SolSource solar stove. Ceramic grills, used since ancient times, retain heat, seal moisture, heat quickly, lack hot spots, are fuel-efficient, and may be safer for children.

Dangers

Outdoor cooking elements pose flammability risks. Highly flammable alcohols used for refueling, gas cookers requiring leak checks, and the need to keep equipment away from heat and tents in stable settings are key concerns. Most modern tents are not fire retardant. Fires must be properly extinguished and never left unattended; wind can carry embers and ignite wildfires.

Portable camping canisters have occasionally exploded due to leaks or overheating, so adequate ventilation is essential, and operation should occur in the open. In bear country, cooking and food storage must be located away from sleeping areas; food may need bear cans or bear bags hung from trees or posts. Other animals attracted to food include raccoons, squirrels, skunks, and mice.

Did You Know?

• Backwoods cooking, a method without kitchen implements, pre-dates Scouting by at least 25 years.
• Some backwoods alternatives to cookware include aluminium foil, fruit skins, and heated stones.